Loki x Natasha Against the odds
by unasmera
Summary: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS ENDGAME ! -seriously don't read if you haven't seen it- After the battle of New York the tesseract somehow got right in front of Lokis feet. He manages to escape with the cube, but things don't go as planned as it doesn't send him to Jotunheim but Vormir instead, where a - not so dead - red headed assasin is just waking up on the bottom of a cliff.
1. Chapter 1

Loki starred at the blue shimmering cube right in front of him, a tiny light slowly pulsating in its depths. It was mesmerizing to look at, nearly hypnotic, binding his gaze to the core. Just for a second Loki let himself drift off, being bound by the beauty of the glowing vanes, shifting through a sea of pure magic.  
And as though it was planned out. As though destiny had played right into his hands, leading the strings of time just to this moment… When he grabbed the Tesseract, waging the cold crystal in his hand, all the while building up a clear picture in his mind of where he wanted to go, none of the Avengers did so much as glance in his direction when he descended into the portal building up behind him. Just like that.

Once the wild swirl of darkness and flashes had faded and the feeling of tumbling through space devolved into the sturdy ground gently pressing against Lokis feet, he startled, put off by his surroundings.

This wasn't at all where he had intended to go. This place looked lifeless, lost and abandoned by everything but dead, stone cold rocks. Deep clouds hung over the sky and the only star slightly visible through the atmosphere of the planet – a huge black circle hanging over the horizon – was almost entirely covered by another celestial body. Only an insignificant amount of light made it over the edge of the star and immerged everything into a dim white shimmer. Midgardians might have described it as a never ending Eclipse. Loki looked to his hands, still holding the tesseract, still bound in chains. Under usual circumstances he would have given an annoyed groan, but the hard metal gag enclosing his mouth made it impossible to produce even the slightest of sounds. An icy wind strove through his hair and made his coat sway. He rose his gaze back to the stone wasteland. No, this wasn't Jotunheim. It wasn't even Asgard. This was just nothing.

Designated he started walking. There was a knife in his pocket, if he could reach it then he might be able to free himself of the chains and Heimdall knew what was waiting for him on this planet. He tried to reach the knife, but with the tesseract still in his hands it turned out to be more difficult than usual to get the weapon since he didn't want to loose it. While he was working it out, he thought about any possible reason the stone would have brought him here, but nothing would come to mind. Nothing useful at least. If Thanos was here, he would have showed himself by now. Loki tried not to think about the things he would do to him once he found out what had happened on earth. On the other hand he was sure Thanos already knew. Loki hadn't decided yet whether the best tactic was to play hide and seek or to go and talk to him, even though he could surely find a way to convince Thanos that this was all just another step towards his plan, since they now knew the exact people they had to kill to leave the earth unprotected. He was the god of mischief after all.

By now he had managed to get the knife out of his pocket and into his right hand, which meant he had to hold the tesseract just with his left one now. Slowly he began to work on the locking mechanism, trying not to cut himself. Once he had a picture in his mind of how it functioned, he would be able to use magic to click the it into its place. A picture began forming in his mind of how it was built and he concentrated on the little metal parts he could feel in the middle.

Mother had taught him how to do it. Shift objects into their place. They used to practice on leaves. Every time one would fall off a tree Loki would try to make it float right into his hand. Of course a lock wasn't a leave, and shifting it into its place was far more complicated than catching something out of the air, but his mother had taught him well as he realized when it finally sprung open.  
The chains fell off at once and Loki circled his hands a few times, enjoying the freedom. He hid the tesseract in the open air, always with him, though invisible to the eyes.

His gaze wondered to the sky. There were no stars visible, but he imagined Freya being on one of them, worried about Thor. A bitter taste spread in his mouth and his eyes narrowed. Agitated, he started walking towards wherever his feet would bring him.

„Why?", he thought, „Why did you lie to me?"  
He couldn't help but think of all the times he had been with them. All the happy memories were lies. Nothing had ever been real. His hands clutched into fists and he could feel the cold rising in his body. Just another reminder that he had never been a part of this family. Not even of Asgard. His fingertips turned blue and he sensed the anger building up inside. A feeling he would suppress whenever people were around. But there was no one around this time and Heimdall could not see him.

His steps got faster and the blue colour crept up his arms and legs to his torso. He had to get rid of this metal gag over his mouth. It was as though he couldn't breath and all the frustration and rage of the last few weeks came crushing down on him like a wild storm of lightning and thunder. He had lost New York, he had lost his only chance to win back his right to a crown. He had lost against his brother, again.  
Lokis true form was fully visible by now and he was running trough the wasteland.  
He was nothing. He had nothing and all life had ever given him was humiliation and pain. He let the metal gag freeze over and brought his hands to its closing mechanism. He was sick of this life. Sick of this universe and its pitiable creatures who would never be able to understand him. To understand true power. No! What they didn't know, they'd fear and offend. Exile it to the very furthest edge of the universe or lock it into a cage, hoping it would never see the light of day again.  
But in truth, they all had their own monsters, locked away in a cage inside their head. And instead of embracing whom they really were, they hid it away, afraid of themselves.

The lock wouldn't open and he busted the gag apart, leaving his cheek bloody with cuts of the sharp edges. The metal hadn't been able to take anymore of the cold Loki so aggressively had enforced on it.  
He stopped his run and screamed in agony, letting out all of the pain that had built up inside him.

Suddenly there was a sound as though the planet would burst and a black hole built up in the sky just over a far off mountain. It looked much like the portal that would built up whenever one used the tesseract to travel through space, only much bigger. Loki paused just long enough for him to see a white light flash up, blinding him and then, darkness.

* * *

So, this is the first chapter. I'm not entirely sure where to take this thing, but I just had to write this off my soul after watching Endgame. Having Loki (and soon Natasha) alive makes me feel a lot better after this movie... ^^

Please leave some feedback if you like it and I will try to post more soon. (Also I'm German, so please excuse any words or phrases that don't make sense, I'll correct them if you write me ;-) )

Next chapter will be up soon =)


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Natasha felt was the ground unnoticeably trembling underneath her. It was like rain, not falling from the sky but pattering from underground. Apart from that it was dark and cold. Everything felt numb and would she not have sensed the tiny stones vibrating against her back, she might have thought that she was floating. Weightlessly Natasha existed. Just lying on the ground, breathing.

Then she remembered. Remembered all the pain and the grief of loosing everything. Half the population - gone with a snap. She remembered the five years of trying to pick the pieces up and fit them back in place. Five years of lost hope, of powerlessness. And then…

Her mind came back to the surface in an instant and she flung her eyes open. Frosty air filled out her lungs and she took a few breaths, far too unstable. Clint!

The atmosphere above her was filled by deep hanging, black clouds and the cliff she had jumped off rose to the sky like a threatening monster just waiting to take another life. Natasha rolled over, following the instinctive urge to bring some distance between her and the rocks. Her legs were stiff and hurt and the feeling in her fingertips and toes was numb. She was still waring the time travel suit and frantically searched for the Pym-Particles that had to be there. They were. Or at least what was left of them, an empty, broken container, uselessly hanging on her belt.

The desperation hit Natasha like a knife and she could feel her hands slightly trembling. She only let it sink in for a few seconds, then caught herself and got off the ground. Still unsteady on her legs, she stood up, raising her gaze to the top of the mountain. Her friend and the hooded skull figure were gone. But if she was still alive, did he even get the stone? She startled. What if Clint was lying dead somewhere because she had survived? What if the ghost had lied and killed him instead?

„Clint?", she tried to reach him via headset. She waited for a few seconds, but there was only silence. Natasha started running.  
„Clint, can you hear me?", she asked again, a hint of panic in her voice this time. No answer. She ran alongside the mountain, trying to find her way back to the point where they had started to climb up. The walls were majestic and frightening at the same time, looking even more dangerous now that Natasha knew how it felt falling off one.

She tried not to think about the swirling wind, her stomach revolting against the loss of gravity whilst shifting through the air. Not to think about Clints face starring down at her, the expression of helplessness in his eyes.  
She should have been dead. She must have been dead. Must have broken every bone in her entire body after this fall. After tumbling down a cliff of at least 200 meters. It was impossible to explain.

She was halfway around the mountain when she saw it. Relief paired with a non describable aching swept through her body. The space ship was gone. Clint must have taken it after receiving the stone and by now be long off this planet.  
Natasha rested her hands on her knees and calmed herself down. She was alone, or at least that's what she thought.

—-

Loki was lurking in the shadows.  
Once he had come back to his senses after being smashed to the ground by a wave of pressure which had emerged from the mountain, he had started walking towards it to investigate its origin. If the magic inside was restorable or came in waves he might be able to recreate the portal and get off this abandoned planet. It was only when he had been halfway to it that he realized he might not even want to leave. As far as he could tell, there were no other creatures present but him and some mutated form of rats. Thanos hadn't gotten to him yet, which didn't have to mean anything but at least it was a start and this exile had enough piece and time for him to figure out his next steps or maybe even a new plan. Food and water could surely be found somewhere - there were a lot of clouds after all - and some distance between him and earth didn't sound too bad at the moment.

All in all the odds had been looking quite positive for him, had he not noticed the outlines of a slim figure running alongside his chosen destination. At first he hadn't even identified it as human, but as he drew closer the ginger hair paired with this strikingly white and red suit were obviously attached to a midgardian woman. In fact it was the same woman who he had just seen in New York, fighting for the Avengers barely an hour ago! And yet, she had to be at least 5 years older now. Her hair was longer and seemed to have turned white at the ends. Also her whole posture seemed as though she was baring the weight of the world on her shoulders.

He was hiding behind one of the stones inspecting her features from the shadows, though he knew it was only a matter of time until she would notice his presence. He had respect for the Black Widow and making the mistake of underestimating her was something he wasn't likely to do again. Oh yes, she had a talent this one. Fooling him into giving information he did not yet want to tell had thoroughly impressed him. Not that it had had any consequence on the plan, but still.

She turned to his direction and for a second their eyes met. He saw a pain in hers so very familiar, it completely threw him out of concept. There was no possible way she could know how he felt, and yet it was like looking in a mirror. What had happened to this woman? Loki got a feeling he had been unconscious for quite a while longer than he had expected.

* * *

Soooo... Here's chapter 2...  
Thank you to everyone who already added my story to their favorites or follows! It really motivated me to keep on writing.  
Also I am always hoping to get some reviews, so if you enjoyed reading it, maybe write me :-)  
(Also if you did not enjoy reading it so I might be able to improve ;-) )

I couldn't believe Natasha died when I saw the movie and I was really angry and upset about it, which is why writing her back to life was a real satisfiing thing to do! (Yes, I am denying both her and Lokis death - yes I will probably deny Tony Starks death as well)

If you need me to write anything else to life which or who the Russo Brothers killed please let me know and I am very happy to help! ^^


	3. Chapter 3

Natasha noticed him in the same second she drew her weapon. The first shot should have hit him in the chest, but instead it just went right through him. The illusion descended into the air and she instinctively swirled around expecting him to appear behind her back, but there was nothing. Instead she heard him laugh not far from the point he originally stood. Natasha turned back, pointing her gun at his appearance, though she was sure as hell it was just another trick of his. Her heart was racing in her chest and she nervously eyed her surroundings, ready to shoot at even the slightest movement. What the hell was Loki doing on Vormir? And why was he bleeding? Were there other enemies she should be wary of?  
„Well, well, it appears we meet again", he greeted her with a great gesture and a smile only he could produce. She didn't let herself be tricked by the friendliness in his voice, though she was certain he already knew that.

Loki looked just like she remembered. Mostly dressed in different layers of black and green leather, some golden metal armor pieces on his coat and shimmering black hair just long enough to lie on his shoulders. His eyes had dark bags underneath and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. Now that she came to think about it, he really looked exactly the way she had seen him last time, which had been just after the battle of New York.  
„I suppose you didn't bring any of your friends this time?", she said. It was mostly to stall some time. She had to figure out a plan. It had to look like there was back up. Loki gave a silent laugh at her, then smiled.  
„Oh no, much like you I am alone", he answered.

It was a test. He wanted to see her reaction. She gave him a little grin and laid one hand on her electric rod, fixed on her leg.  
„What makes you think I am alone?"  
It was just a tiny hint. A change in the way he looked at her, a little uncertainty, not enough for untrained eyes to see, but Natasha wasn't untrained. The red room had made sure of that.

The second shot went through the head and his illusion vanished once again. This was her chance. She sprinted towards the rocks, the only place he could hide. And then, there was something. It was just a flung, out of the corner of her eye, but she saw it. Changing directions, she ran towards the movement and shot again. The actual Loki rolled out of his hiding place, a grim expression on his face, but still, he managed a smirk. She was still running when magic lighted and two daggers appeared out of nowhere. Natasha changed the gun for her second rod, then sprung towards him, covering the lower side of her body with her left, whilst striking with the right. Her electric pole clung against his dagger leaving both weapons vibrating, then stuck together in a pointless wager of strength. He tried to stab her with his other hand, but she saw it coming and defended her side and kicked him with her knee. In his second of unawareness she clicked one rod back into its halter, meanwhile giving up the pressure on her right rod, which left Lokis dagger razing towards her neck. She stumbled a few steps backwards leaving the steel passing just inches from her throat, then changed her weapon to the left hand and caught Lokis wrist, wielding his second knife, with her right. He was a trained fighter and therefor knew what she was after, which is why Natasha - whilst moving - changed plans, let herself fall to the ground, sliding underneath him, all the while having a grip on his wrist. It left him tumbling to the ground with her and the dagger in his left flew towards her head. She defended it with her rod and then let go of Lokis hand to roll off, landing on her feet again. He was still trying to get up one moment later as she aimed her gun for his head. Their gaze met just a second and suddenly -

Clint starred at her, despair in his eyes.  
„Natasha?", she couldn't do it. Couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger. Not looking at him like this. Loki appeared behind her, too fast for her to notice. The shaft of his dagger hit her right in the back of her head.

—-

Loki had waited the better part of the day for her friends to come and pick her up. She was laying unconscious at the foot of the mountain, seemingly unguarded, though he was convinced they would have tried to get her even if he had shown himself. The star had by now wandered halfway across the sky and it was starting to get colder, but still there was no sign of rescue in sight. With the hours passing by he began to wonder wether anyone even knew where she was or if he was the one being fooled. Maybe all of this was just part of an enormous spell trying to lure Loki into some sort of trap. Maybe his father had finally forced Freya do something about their adopted ice giant spawn and use her powers. But whichever way he looked at it, one thing was certain. This women did not belong in his timeline.

It had taken some effort of his to figure it out. After the Black Widow had passed out he had begun by analyzing her suit. Never before had he seen any of the supposed superheroes wear anything similar. It had all sorts of midgardian technology built into it and seemed to serve as some kind of protection, against what he could not say. Her aura had been mostly chaotic, at least the parts he was able to explore. She subconsciously hid nearly all of it behind a wall that was impossible to bypass.

But neither her suit nor her aura had betrayed her. It was a memory Loki had seen. He hadn't been able to dig deep into her mind, or otherwise he would have risked waking her up. He hadn't been able to see much at all actually, for but one picture. Loki assumed it had been present because of his being here, otherwise he couldn't explain why this specific memory would have shown up.

It was him. Chained up, the metal gag, he so brutally had just destroyed, still around his mouth and Thor calling upon Heimdall to send the Bifröst.  
It had taken him until now to figure out what he had seen. The explanation being so rudely simple that his mind just couldn't wrap around it. Other than her being in the wrong timeline, there was no logical explanation for it, provided one would consider this a logical explanation. But there was no other possibility. It was fairly simple to detect an altered memory and impossible for him to be at the same place twice with different outcomes. Except for if it hadn't been him, but a different version of him.

Finally he decided to pick her up himself. Her friends for some reason weren't coming, and he couldn't let her freeze to death since he wanted an explanation for the timeline paradox. He came out of his hiding place, and walked over to the assassin. Carefully he touched her forehead, always waiting for her to jump at him. Her mind was still at ease and he would make sure it stayed like that until he had found a safe place for him to interrogate her. With some effort he got her off the ground and into his arms, one under her legs and the other one behind her shoulders. She was not as heavy as he had thought she would be, but still it took a lot of strength from him to use his magic, so she wouldn't wake up whilst he was baring her in his arms and walking through the stone desert. He had to find a place to bring her, fast.

—

It was completely dark and freezing when Loki arrived in the cave. Two times he had tried to open a portal with the tesseract along the way, and two times he had failed. The stone seemed to have developed a mind of its own, at least that is what it looked like.  
By now it took all his power to keep the assassin from waking up. She had started shivering along the way and her mind constantly seemed to fight back against his persuasion. He lay her down on the ground and wrapped her in his coat. The cold never bothered him anyway, so he might as well just let it go. He used Thors chains for her hands and made her weapons invisible to her. It wasn't enough to stop her from doing anything stupid but it was all he could manage at the moment. The extensive use of his powers had weakened him more than he liked to admit and he was strained of carrying the assassin. He sat down on the opposed wall of the cave and rested his head on the granite for a while. By Odin, he was tired.

As Loki finally released his magic from the black widows mind she instantly started to wake up. Her whole body was shivering and her eyes looked glassy. She used his coat as a blanket, seemingly without orientation and confused about her hands being chained up. Then she saw him and brought as much distance as possible between them, sliding backwards and slamming her back into the other wall. He tried to ignore the stinging sensation of rejection. Even though she was an enemy and even though it was entirely logic of her to react like this, he couldn't help but feel her abhorrence in his bones. And it wasn't just hers. She was just one in a long list of people who hated him for what he was. He shoved the thought away.

„Seems to me your friends have abandoned you", he said, mockingly smiling at her. She did not answer. He could see her eyes scanning the cave. Analyzing her escape routes. Her skin was paler than usual in the dim light that shone through the entrance. Had he looked at her differently, he might have thought of her as beautiful. But Loki hadn't thought about anyone that way for a long time.  
„I suppose you know how to get off this planet?", he asked, merely to keep up conversation. She didn't answer but tried to cover as much of her body as possible with his coat. It was probably some sort of tactic of hers, to make her look vulnerable. He was sure that she had already started to open the lock on the chains, but too tired to do anything about it right now. The way she trembled though would make it hard for her. He had to admit that it was freezing cold even inside this cave and as a frost giant he probably had no idea what it was like for her to bear against it with nothing but a slim suit and a coat.

Eventually Loki sighed and stood up. He would go and look for some firewood, deeper inside the cave. Not that he expected to find anything, but at least it would keep him from falling asleep. He eyed the assassin up and down, then disappeared in the dark. She wouldn't last two minutes outside the cave. It was even colder out there and Loki would be able to find her - dead or alive - as soon as the star lighted the sky once again.

Without the ability to see, he used only the rocks to guide him through the dark. Feeling with his feet for anything lying on the ground. It was mostly stones and rats which ran away squeaking as soon as they got his foot slammed into their bodies. One shouldn't underestimate those beasts. They might look harmless but in groups and with enough of a hunger they could kill a grown horse. He was close to heading back, when he felt something lying on the floor. He bend over and tried to feel what it was. At first he thought it might actually be some wood, but then it felt too light, too fragile. Without any light it took him some time to figure out what it was, but as he finally understood, it was already too late.

A pair of yellow glowing eyes appeared in the dark, followed by a deep growl and the smell of rotten flesh. The cave was inhabited.

* * *

Chapter 3! Thank you for all the reviews I got so far! I loved all of them and I get so motivated when I see people read my story!  
Already working on Chapter 4 so hang in there ;-)


	4. Chapter 4

At first she heard a growl. Then she heard something clanging from deep inside the cave, followed by fast steps coming nearer, running towards her direction. And after that some sort of roar, vibrating through the stones followed by giant paws hitting the granite floor.  
Natasha felt like she was frozen to the core and had barely managed to open up the lock on her chains with her hands trembling so hard she had had to force them to stay steady. The only thing that kept her from cooling down entirely was Lokis coat, she was by now wearing. Still confused about what was happening inside the cave, Natasha got off the ground and into a fighting position, preparing for the worst. Without her weapons she had a huge disadvantage, but she could still cause a lot of damage.

Suddenly there was a lightning strike and her poles as well as her pistol appeared on the ground next to were Loki had sat. It took her strained mind a second longer than usual to grasp what had just happened, but luckily her body was already sprinting towards them, driven by the far too close footsteps that left the ground shaking with each new tread.

„RUN", she heard Loki scream behind her and then passing by. But she was already back on her feet as the beast broke through the wall. Shielding her head she ran. Faster than she had ever imagined she was able to. Breaking free through the entrance, leaving her with nothing but the bleakness of the stone desert creeping through Lokis coat like fluent ice. Behind her a monster, furious with anger about the intruders and probably hungry.

Natasha desperately tried to keep up with the gods pace, especially now that she saw him wielding the tesseract. But the air felt like blackfrost in her lungs and her legs were shortly before freezing off.

He didn't turn around, didn't even glance at her, but she couldn't blame him. She would have probably done the same. There was some sort of irony behind it though. Only about 24 hours ago she had somehow managed not to die in a stone desert on an abandoned planet, just to now die a day later in the same stone desert on the same planet.

As if to confirm her thoughts the beast gave up another roar, leaving the ground trembling by its bass. Natasha felt her knees getting week, but kept her eyes fixed on Loki, expecting him to vanish midst air, using his magic any second now, but to her surprise the exact opposite was the case. Not only did he not disappear, no he even stopped right on spot and turned around, facing the monster. Natasha gasped for air, trying to keep moving, all the while supplying her brain with enough oxygen to comprehend the situation.

His eyes were filled with fear and determination as he brought his hands in front of his body, his armes stretched to a defending pose and a shimmer of blue creeping up his neck. Natasha stumbled in full speed, fell to the ground and slid right to the Asgardians position, somehow managing to stabilize herself with one of the rods. It felt like ice scratching up her body. Once she had come to a stop, she got off the ground, finally able to see the full extend of their opponent.

It was a magnificent beast, with thick brown fur all over its massive body and fangs reminding her of a boar, just ten times as big. It had 4 paws bearing dangerously sharp claws that dug themselves deep into the earth with each step it sprinted closer, just to rip it back open afterwards. Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she would have had problems believing it. Hulk had probably just the right size to ride the thing!

The situation was entirely hopeless, not even if they joined their forces would they have had a chance against it. But Loki seemed to have a different opinion. Still standing next to her, his hands stretched in front of him and screaming at the monster. This was madness. Natashas heart beat like a jungle drum inside her and she tensed the danger in every fiber of her body, yelling at her to turn. To keep on running.

She couldn't bring herself to do it. If Loki had decided that fighting was their best option, even though she hated to admit it, he was probably right. There was no way they would be able to outrun this thing.  
Blue color wandered up his head, leaving strange ornaments on his skin and turning his eyes read. Natasha was unsure whether it was just another illusion or if he was having some sort of magical stroke, but whatever it was, it better work.

By now it was a matter of mere seconds until they would be eaten alive. She was still trembling, but not only from the cold this time. The panic grew stronger with each tread the monster came closer, leaving her nervously eyeing Loki. For once she hoped his plan would work. That it would prevent her from being torn apart by fangs as big as herself, all the while starring in those horrible yellow glowing eyes.  
She took a few steps back, on the edge to sprinting forward and trying to jump the beast, as - just inches from their heads and in full speed - it was hit by a cascade of iridescent crystal icicles.  
Lokis face showed a mixture of agony, exhaustion and anger, whilst he screamed at the giant animal in front of him, ice shooting out of his palms and right onto its body. It flew backwards for at least 3 meters, furiously growling and snapping at the storm that was being thrown against it.  
For a moment Natasha was unable to do anything but stare at the sheer force evolving itself in front of her. She had always known that he was powerful, mighty even, but this was another sort of power. Not an illusion, not some kind of trick. It was pure destruction breaking loose from somewhere deep inside him it seemed.

Then, suddenly the screaming stopped, the storm as well, and Loki dropped to the ground like a stone. His skin instantly turned back to its normal color and his eyes shut close. She starred at him in disbelief for a second, then she drew her pistol and began shooting.

Lucky for her, the beast was still disorientated and weakened by Lokis magic. She managed to hit it at its flank which had no impact whatsoever. The next shot went right through its ear, causing it to look at her, eyes narrowed and head bent in a provoking position. Blood began running down its face. It wouldn't be long until the effects of the previous attack would kling off and leave it angrier than before.  
Natashas head was working through every single form of combat she had ever learned, but none of them were sufficient enough to fight a full grown, alien, wolf-bear-boar monster.

The third shot missed its eye for only a few inches, leaving her pistol empty. It wasn't until the beast finally came running at her, teeth gritted and claws extended, that she remembered the word that the god had screamed over and over again whilst still conscious.  
„HEIMDALL"

—-

Loki woke up in the dungeon. He liked the dungeon. It had always stroked him as a place full of opportunities. The walls were white and empty, illuminated only by the lights inside the prison cells and a golden shimmer shining from their barriers. Of course he had only ever been on the other side of the barriers up till now.

So many opportunities, such a lot of missed potential. People who landed here had usually reached the bottom of their misery. Unable to sink any deeper, but still a long road ahead of them. Well, in most of their cases at least. Asgard had stopped beheading prisoners a few hundred years ago, but every once and again there were some exceptions. In such incidences it had been one of his self given tasks to come down here and have a last talk with the condemned prisoner, listening to everything they had to say. And they usually had to say a lot.

He postponed the thought for a later time and tried to focus on the now.  
His head ached, the tesseract was gone, but apart from that, he was fine. Someone had tended to his wounds and washed his clothes. They were lying next to him, carefully folded on a pile. He himself was dressed in linens.

Still on the bed, they must have brought here especially for him, he starred at the ceiling. This was exactly what he had been trying to avoid. Being caught up underneath the palace he had once been meant to reign. Maybe he should have just died in that stone desert.

He sensed his mothers presence long before he heard her coming down the stairs. Her steps made almost no sound and had the impression of thoughtfulness printed on them. He closed his eyes once again. There was no one he would have wanted to talk to, not even Freya. He heard her speaking to one of the guards, followed by all of them leaving the hallway. She approached slowly, as though not to startle a scared animal, then she just stood there, in front of his prison cell, looking inside.  
„Are you still hurting?", she asked after a while. Loki didn't open his eyes.  
„Define hurting", he answered sarcastically. She ignored his tone.  
„I was so worried about you. When your brother told me…"  
„He's NOT my brother", he interrupted her, took some time to gather himself, then got off the bed and faced his mother. She looked worried, sad even, though graceful as ever. Not my mother, he corrected his thoughts, Freya.  
„Loki, we are your family. And nothing in any world could ever change that", she said. He clenched his hands into fists for a second, just to open them back up again.

Oh how he wished it was true. How he longed for something to be a part of. People accepting him for who he was rather than who he should be.  
But it had never been true. Never been real. All his life they had lied to him. They had make him believe that he was a part of this family. A part of this realm. But he wasn't.

He had always been the outcast. The strange, the black sheep of Asgard. Not strong enough to match with Thor and too quiet for Odin. More than once had he asked himself why he couldn't just be like everyone else, but as he had finally gotten the answer to that question it had only confirmed him in his worst fears. The problem was indeed with him, not with the others.

He **was** the strange, the outlander, the monster they had always feared. Asgard had never been his home, and neither was Jotunheim. He had no home. He only had himself.

„I don't have a family", he eventually answered, unable to hide a hint of sadness in his voice. Freya looked at him with the same sadness written on her face, yet smiling. It was a comforting smile, one she had always given him when she wanted to make him feel better. It helped a little.  
„I chose some books from the library and had them brought to your cell. I hoped it might help you pass the time until the trial"  
She knew him too well. And he knew exactly that she wasn't arguing with him because she knew it would lead to nothing. He took a quick glance at the bookshelf placed in the left side of the room. They had brought most of his furniture down here, probably answering Freyas demand. He never had had a lot of furnishings in his chambers but most of it he found somewhere in this cell.

So there would be a trial. Loki hadn't been sure, after all he had learned, wether Odin wouldn't just lock him in a cave and have a snake drip poison on him, from above or something. But if there was a trial, they would have to let him speak which was his chance of freedom. It was the one shot he had and he would use it. He was the god of mischief after all.

„Thank you", he answered, and he meant it. In all these years, Freya had always been there for him. No matter how much of a failure, how much of a disappointment he seemed to be for everyone else, she would pick him up and get him back on his feet again. They looked each other in the eyes for a second, and he could feel her comforting him. Never before had he hated the barriers of a prison cell as much as he did right now. He just wanted her to take him in her arms and tell him that everything would be all right. He just wanted her to be his mother. But she wasn't.

He looked away and she turned to go, but stopped after two steps.  
„Your friend is doing better by the way", she informed him. For a second he was confused as to whom she was referring, but then he nodded as though to dismiss her. She climbed up the stairs and the guards took their positions once again. He turned his back on the barrier and a waggish smile crossed his face. So the assassin was still alive. Finally, something he could work with.

* * *

Yaaai, sorry it took a little longer this time, but I really wanted to get a little more into Lokis feelings, so it took a lot of rewriting. Hopefully it's somehow accurate by now XD.  
Again, thank you for all the reviews and to everyone who is reading the story! Each time a new comment pops up my day gets 100% better :-)  
If you have any suggestions, or corrections let me know and I will try to write them in. See you next time ;-)


	5. Chapter 5

Loki woke up in the dungeon. He liked the dungeon. It had always stroked him as a place full of opportunities. The walls were white and empty, illuminated only by the lights inside the prison cells and a golden shimmer shining from their barriers. Of course he had only ever been on the other side of the barriers up until now.

So many opportunities, such a lot of missed potential. People who landed here had usually reached the bottom of their misery. Unable to sink any deeper, but still a long road ahead of them. Well, in most of their cases at least. Asgard had stopped beheading prisoners a few hundred years ago, but every once and again there were some exceptions. In such incidences it had been one of his self given tasks to come down here and have a last talk with the condemned prisoner, listening to everything they had to say. And they usually had to say a lot.

He postponed the thought for a later time and tried to focus on the now.

His head ached, the tesseract and his weapons were gone, but apart from that, he was fine. Someone had tended to his wounds and washed his clothes. They were lying next to him, carefully folded on a pile. He himself was dressed in linens.

Still on the bed, they must have brought here especially for him, he starred at the ceiling. This was exactly what he had been trying to avoid. Being caught up underneath the palace he had once been meant to reign. Maybe he should have just died in that stone desert.

He sensed his mothers presence long before he heard her coming down the stairs. Her steps made almost no sound and had the impression of thoughtfulness printed on them. He closed his eyes once again. There was no one he would have wanted to talk to, not even Freya. He heard her speaking to one of the guards, followed by all of them leaving the hallway. She approached slowly, as though not to startle a scared animal, then she just stood there, in front of his prison cell, looking inside.

„Are you still hurting?", she asked after a while. Loki didn't open his eyes. „Define _hurting_", he answered sarcastically. She ignored his tone.

„I was so worried about you. When your brother told me…" „He's NOT my brother", he interrupted her, took some time to gather himself, then got off the bed and faced his mother. She looked worried, sad even, though graceful as ever. _Not my mother_, he corrected his thoughts, _Freya._

„Loki, we are your family. And nothing in any world could ever change that", she said. He clenched his hands into fists for a second, just to open them back up again.

Oh how he wished it was true. How he longed for something to be a part of. People accepting him for who he was rather than who he should be.

But it had never been true. Never been real. All his life they had lied to him. They had make him believe that he was a part of this family. A part of this realm when in truth he wasn't.

He had always been the outcast. The strange, the black sheep of Asgard. Not strong enough to match with Thor and too quiet for Odin. More than once had he asked himself why he couldn't just be like everyone else, but as he had finally gotten the answer to that question it had only confirmed him in his worst fears. The problem was indeed with him, not with the others.

He **was **the strange, the outlander, the monster they had always feared. Asgard had never been his home, and neither was Jotunheim. He had no home. He only had himself.

„I don't have a family", he eventually answered, unable to hide a hint of sadness in his voice. Freya looked at him with the same sadness written on her face, yet smiling. It was a comforting smile, one she had always given him when she wanted to make him feel better. It helped a little.

„I chose some books from the library and had them brought to your cell. I hoped it might help you pass the time until the trial"

She knew him too well. And he knew exactly that she wasn't arguing with him because she knew it would lead to nothing. He took a quick glance at the bookshelf placed in the left side of the room. They had brought most of his furniture down here, probably answering Freyas demand. He never had had a lot of furnishings in his chambers but most of it he found somewhere in this cell.

So there would be a trial. Loki hadn't been sure, after all he had learned, wether Odin wouldn't just lock him in a cave and have a snake drip poison on him, from above or something. But if there was a trial, they would have to let him speak which was his chance of freedom. It was the one shot he had and he would use it. He was the god of mischief after all.

„Thank you", he answered, and he meant it. In all these years, Freya had always been there for him. No matter how much of a failure, how much of a disappointment he seemed to be for everyone else, she would pick him up and get him back on his feet again. They looked each other in the eyes for a second, and he could feel her comforting him. Never before had he hated the barriers of a prison cell as much as he did right now. He just wanted her to take him in her arms and tell him that everything would be all right. He just wanted her to be his mother. But she wasn't.

He looked away and she turned to go, but stopped after two steps. „Your friend is doing better by the way", she informed him. For a second he was confused as to whom she was referring, but then he nodded as though to dismiss her. She climbed up the stairs and the guards took their positions once again. He turned his back on the barrier and a waggish smile crossed his face. So the assassin was still alive. Finally, something he could work with.

—

Natasha woke up in a room that could have easily served as the filmset of a Disney movie. Above her, huge silk curtains decorated the frame of the queen sized poster bed she was lying on, and the mattress was the comfiest she had ever been. But the best part of it was the warm summer breeze blowing in from the opened balcony doors. She took a deep breath of the fresh air and sat up in bed, letting the cover slide down to her hips. Where was she? And why was she not dead? Or had turned into an icicle for that matter. She checked her body for frostbite, but apart from a few scratches that had been cleaned and mended to, she was fine. She took a wild guess about her location and assumed it was Asgard, recalling the descriptions she had heard from Thor. But perhaps the question shouldn't be where, but more importantly _when_ she was. Asgard had been destroyed by some kind of fire demon around five to six years before her initial time, but then again Loki should have already been behind bars in the year Clint and her visited Vormir. Something didn't add up.

At least she seemed to have gotten out of the danger zone for now.

Her suit was lying next to the bed, carefully folded on a chair. Someone had dressed her in what served as a night gown she assumed - not that she had never worn one before, it just usually didn't cover as much skin.

She was just about to get up and check the room for entries and exits when the two doors left of the bed swung open. A woman, dressed in a greek-ish dress entered the room, baring a pile of clothes in her arms, and seemed startled by the fact that Natasha sat straight in bed. Her cheeks blushed and she took a few steps back to the door. „Please excuse my intrusion! I… I was not aware you were… awake yet", she stammered, smiling seemingly uncomfortable. Natasha got out of bed and grabbed her suit.

„It's all right you can come in. I was just about to go and look for people anyways"

„Are you sure you don't want me to wait outside the door whilst you get dressed?", she asked, somehow embarrassed with a quick glance to the clothes in her arms. Natasha wagered which would make the better choice: The time travel suit or an asgardian gown. By means of modesty and adaption the gown won.

„Alright, just leave the clothes with me then", she politely told the women who thereafter put the pile of clothes down on a chair and then seemed relieved to close the doors from the outside.

They had given her a dress. It showed similarities to the greek-ish one she had seen before on the women who brought her the clothes, only that it was red, not white, and it came with matching golden arm bracers. Probably Thors idea. She could almost hear him say:

„Give her a dress, in red, the same color as her hair. And give her some armor to it! She's a great warrior in Midgard". A smirk came to her face as she put on her shoes. Her, by now probably static, poles and the empty gun were uselessly lying next to her suit. They had given her two daggers though. One she could hide in the shaft of the boot, the other one strapped to her hip.

Natasha hid her other weapons underneath the bed jammed under its slats, then she opened up the doors and walked into the corridor where another woman who must have been informed about her awakening by her first visitor was already waiting for her. The lady greeted her with a warm smile and took both of Natashas hands in her own as she introduced herself.

„You must be the Black Widow, Thor has told us many stories of your bravery. I am his mother, you can call me Frigga". The sincere and unconditional friendliness of Thors mother caught her completely unaware, even though she didn't let it show. There were few to no people in this world who gained her trust easily, but this woman seemed so honest, that even Natasha nearly let her guard slip for a second. Nearly.

„Please call me Natasha", she responded, feeling a little awkward, „It is very nice to meet you". She didn't actually like the title „Black Widow". The only reason she had kept it was because it made her somehow untouchable on a personal level, even for her enemies. She was sure that Frigga had used it as a sign of respect though. The goddess gave her a nod and let go of her hands.

„I hope you were able to recover properly. I had the maidens prepare this chamber for you. It is one of our guest rooms and we will not be needing it in the next time, so you may stay as long as you wish", she explained.

„That is very kind of you", Natasha answered, still hoping she would be able to return to her time as soon as possible. Even though the term _soon_ seemed ironically unimportant in that matter. Frigga gave her another smile, then she started walking down the magnificently decorated hallway. Natasha stayed by her side.

„I am afraid Thor hasn't returned back home yet. He was still looking for Loki last I've heard. We have sent a messenger down to earth yesterday and expect his arrival any day now"

Natasha stopped for a second, unsure how to process this news. If Thor was down on earth looking for Loki, it would mean now was right before the battle of New York, which would conclude into her not having met Thor, which made it impossible for Frigga to know her yet. Something was extremely off.

„How long have I been unconscious?", she asked.

„Only for about a day", Frigga answered. Natasha started walking again, trying to hide her confusion the best she could. She was unaware of where Frigga was leading her, but tried to remember every detail of the way whilst walking. A map of the seemingly endless palace started to form in her mind. Luckily for her it was built symmetrically so that she could complete the missing parts on the other side, always trying to find her escape route.

They strolled around the palace for a couple of minutes. Sometimes Frigga told stories of how things had been built or where paths would lead to if one followed them, which only lead to Natasha being more suspicious than before. Why would she tell her how to get out of the palace? Why would they even give her weapons? Whatever the meaning behind this was, she would find out. It was her job to lift secrets, so how difficult could it be to lift this one?

Frigga knew something, something that made it possible for her to know Natasha existed even though she hadn't heard of her yet. But how? Another thought crossed her mind. What if Loki had not inherited his magic talents from his father as she had always presumed, but rather from his mother?

The thought reminded her of something.

_They had been assembled around the conference table on the Hovercraft which Shield had declared as their headquarters for the New York mission. Somebody had said something - she couldn't remember what exactly - about Loki that had put Thor off and to which he had declared:_

„_Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard and he is my brother"_

_Natasha, always short on her tongue had answered:_

„_He killed 80 people in two days". And Thors response had been:_

„_He's adopted"._

Now that, was something she could work with. A pressure point possibly. It must be. She knew how it felt not belonging to somewhere. Not knowing her parents was a burden, bigger than she was willing to admit. Which is why, as Frigga was just about to show her the infirmary she asked: „How is Loki, by the way?"

* * *

Alright... So I have been offline for a while (things were getting messy).

But now I'm back! (Yey!)  
I can't say how long it will take me to write the next chapters, but since I know how frustrating it is for a fanfiction to just stop, I promise to keep up writing. It might only take a while (as you can see ´:D).

Anyhow. Please let me know what your thoughts on this chapter are! It does still motivate me a lot to read the comments!  
Hope to write again soon


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